Gators C Rueben Chinyelu Invited to NBA Draft Combine

As Rueben Chinyelu decides between returning to the Florida Gators or staying in the NBA Draft, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year got another wrinkle in his decision-making process by being one of 73 players invited to the AWS NBA Draft Combine 2026, the NBA announced on Friday.

The combine will be held from May 10-17 in Chicago.

The NBA announced today that 73 players have been invited to the AWS NBA Draft Combine 2026, which will take place May 10-17 at Wintrust Arena and the Marriott Marquis in Chicago.

Additionally, a select number of standout players from the AWS NBA G League Draft Combine 2026,… pic.twitter.com/9w2ncpacCe
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 1, 2026

Chinyelu is Florida's lone invitee this year after Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh both returned to the program. With one year of eligibility remaining, Chinyelu has already confirmed that, if he were to exit the draft, he would return to Florida. The deadline to exit the draft and return to college is on May 27.

"Rueben is incredibly important to us," head coach Todd Golden said. "Our goal with all of our guys that test is that if you come back to college then you are coming back to Florida. It’s not like hey I’m testing and I’m also going into the portal."

After a season in which he broke Florida's single-season double-double record (19), single-season offensive rebounding record (137) and became the program's first player to average a double-double (10.9 points, 11.2 rebounds) per game in 50 years, Chinyelu became the first Gator to earn Naismith and NABC National Defensive Player of the Year honors.

As it stands, Chinyelu is ranked as the No. 43 overall prospect in ESPN's NBA Draft Big Board and is projected to go in the second round at 49th overall to Denver, according to ESPN's Jeremy Woo.

Chinyelu's potential to solidify himself as a first-round pick as well as Florida's successful retentions of Condon and Haugh give Golden confidence that the 6-foot-10 center will return for his senior season.

"Rueben is a really bright dude. He has seen his progression since he got here," Golden said. "I remember a lot of people questing the take is he going to be able to do it and started 40 games on a national championship team the next year. He was one of the best defensive player and one of the best rebounder if not the best rebounder in America, and his offensive game came along. Why can’t he make the big jump and go into what is widely considered a weaker draft the next year and potentially play his way into the middle of the first round? It's all within the range of outcomes.

"Rueben is a guy that I would bet on in terms of who he is as a person and what he is made of to be able to do something like that."

That being said, Golden admitted that Florida has contingency plans if Chinyelu ultimately remains in the draft. Florida recently added European forward Arturas Butajevas to the roster as a true freshman and could add more to the roster either through the portal or through the international route should Chinyelu officially depart from the program.

"We'll be prepared to pivot if Rueben stays in the Draft," Golden said. "And the great thing is, I think we have a really good group as it is, like, we'll probably need to add a little more size, and you can't – there's nobody that's going to replace Rueben. You know, Rueben's a pretty unique, amazing player. So it might have to be, you know, just kind of a, whatever, just a different type of replacement. But again, I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping we get the big fella back.”

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